This Instant Pot Shredded Chicken is perfectly moist, seasoned, and it freezes well for your weekly meal prep! The easy way to pressure cook chicken breast for shredding, from fresh or frozen! It’s a protein-packed addition to soups, salads, pastas or sandwiches throughout the week.
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I know. Instant Pot Shredded Chicken? We hardly need a recipe for that!
But my goal here is to share recipes that make dinnertime easier — and more delicious!
And since this shredded chicken is the perfect meal prep option and can be used in so many delicious shredded chicken recipes, I know we’ll never run out of ways to use it.
The seasoning on this Instant Pot Shredded Chicken is mild but so, so flavorful. It’s not too spicy or too salty or too peppery or too herby. It’s just right.
See what people are saying
“I needed to find a simple shredded chicken recipe. This is perfect. Flavorful and really adaptable. Used 2 frozen chicken thighs and added 5 more minutes once they separated. I made my own seasoning salt and all is well on my side. Thank you so much for your recipe. I’ve also used it with chicken breast as well.” Michi
No Instant Pot? Check out my Crockpot Shredded Chicken and my stovetop Shredded Chicken instead!
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Ingredients:
- Chicken broth: I prefer to use low sodium broth and adjust my seasonings as desired. If your broth is salted, you may want to omit the salt and season at the end of the cook time. Vegetable broth also works great!
- Italian seasoning
- Seasoning salt: Seasoning salt includes a variety of other herbs and spices that give this pressure cooker shredded chicken a hit of flavor. You can use salt and add in paprika, onion powder and garlic powder.
- Pepper:
- Chicken breasts: boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs are preferred for this recipe. Any bone-in cuts of meat do require a longer cook time.
How to Make Shredded Chicken in the Instant Pot:
Yes, it’s simple — but here are a few step by step photos to guide you! You can find the detailed instructions down in the recipe card.
- Combine broth and seasonings
- Add the chicken to the instant pot.
- Put the lid on and pressure cook — it will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and begin counting down.
- When the cook time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally (be patient!). Then open the lid and shred the chicken.
Tips and Tricks:
Yes, this recipe is simple, but there are a few tricks to make it even easier!
- Make sure you add enough liquid. The liquid is what makes for a tender, flavorful shredded or “pulled” chicken. Broth adds so much more flavor than water, and more liquid = more moisture in your chicken!
- Season well. You don’t want to go overboard, but keep in mind that meat is best seasoned during the cooking process and not after (as is pasta, grains, vegetables, the list goes on). You will drain most of the liquid afterward, so you will not be consuming the full amount of salt, etc. as is listed in the recipe.
- Breasts or thighs? You can use either boneless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, or throw some of each in all together! Thighs have a richer flavor, and breasts are leaner. You choose.
How to shred chicken:
Chicken breasts coming out of your pressure cooker are pretty much falling apart without you having to do anything, so you don’t need to get fancy.
Be sure to shred the chicken breast in the liquid (or at least some of it!) as it the chicken will reabsorb some of the broth and seasoning as you are pulling it, and it will give you the best results by far!
With two forks:
I prefer to use two forks, because I’m lazy and I’m not into extra dishes. They do a fine job! With this method, the shreds of chicken will be a little bit chunkier and not as fine.
With a mixer:
A lot of people will use a hand mixer or stand mixer to shred chicken, but I think it’s unnecessary. I don’t want to wash any more dishes than necessary!
However, if you’re doing a large batch and want your chicken in fine shreds, this is a great way to do it.
Shredded Chicken FAQs
How to store shredded chicken:
Shredded chicken can be store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Just be sure it is in an airtight container so it does not get freezer burnt.
Do I put the chicken on the trivet?
Some people do, but I do not. I think that the chicken gets even more moist and more flavorful sitting in those delicious juices.
Why is my chicken dry?
Overcooking chicken can dry it out quickly, especially when we are using white meat. That’s why I recommend a shorter cook time than some — with the time to build and release pressure, 10 minutes cook time is plenty for a few chicken breasts.
Staring with frozen chicken breasts?
I recommend adding 3-4 minutes to the cook time.
See my post here on cooking frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot.
What can I make with shredded chicken?
This chicken is great for meal prepping because it can be turned into so many different meals! Here are a few of our favorites:
- Add it to this Garlic Parmesan Orzo Pasta or this Creamy Cavatappi Pasta.
- Swap it for meat in this Rigatoni Pasta Bake
- Swap it for the beef in this Dorito Taco Salad or use it in this Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup
- Use it in this Chicken Corn Chowder, Easy Chicken Vegetable Soup or this Chicken Wild Rice Soup.
Looking for more Instant Pot recipes?
We all know that Instant Pot chicken breasts are one of my favorite things this year, so check out these Creamy Italian Instant Pot Chicken Breasts and Instant Pot Pineapple Chicken Breasts next.
You might want to start with The Best Instant Pot Chicken Recipes! Then check out these other favorites:
- Instant Pot Pork Chops with Bacon Apple Glaze
- Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin with Garlic Herb Rub
- Creamy Italian Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
JUICY Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- ¾ teaspoon seasoning salt
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 lbs of chicken)
Instructions
- Place broth, seasoning salt, Italian seasoning and pepper into the Instant Pot inner pot. Stir.
- Add the chicken breasts (no trivet necessary!) and put the lid on.
- Turn valve to sealing, and select Manual (or Pressure Cook), high pressure for 10 minutes (they will be cooked at 7-8 minutes, but a couple extra minutes makes them fall apart tender). It will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and start counting down.
- Once the cook time is over, turn the Instant Pot off and let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes (i.e., don’t touch it!).
- Open the lid and drain about half of the liquid. Shred the chicken breasts with the remaining liquid in the pot, and serve as desired. To freeze, let cool to room temperature before placing in freezer bags.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Bernie says
We had a large amount of chicken breast that I bought because it was a great price. But had no plans to use it in the upcoming week’s menu. This worked out great for freezing!
I reserved half with a full level of broth for soup. The rest I put away for BBQ sandwiches or ???. The seasoning level is perfect for using with a different dish.Exactly what I needed. We did of course do some QA on the taste before freezing and it’s perfect!
I’d defaulted to using a hand mixer for shredding. The argument that it takes too much time to clean-up hit home. I’d note that the 10 min pressure time is 4-5 minutes less than I’ve used in BBQ recipes. But I decided to try forks again. It worked great! I think in the past I’d tried using table forks but this time I used larger serving forks and the results were much better than using a hand mixer and overall takes less time.
I try to reduce sodium content in cooking and once you get used to it you realize how over salted most of our food is. I used powdered garlic, paprika and onion powder instead of seasoned salt. Full disclosour I did use a tablespoon of Knoor chicken broth powder which is more salt than chicken!
Side note: I’ve opted for using a hand blender for shredded meat. I identify with not having to wash anything more than necessary so decided to try the fork method again. I used larger serving forks instead of table forks as I’d done in the past. I’m an idiot! Using the correct forks it worked great, saved time with cleanup and created a much better shred consistency.
Sharon r says
Easy recipe, I use half the liquid and it works really well. Brilliant recipe, thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Sharon!
Janet says
Great recipe to have on hand, a new go to recipe for me. So quick to prep and to move onto other dinner or meal details.
This recipe worked well to simple cook one large chicken breast, no alterations were needed in the recipe. The shredded chicken breast and chicken broth was used in making a chicken pot pie.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for sharing Janet!
Kelly R says
I make this all the time!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for your review Kelly!
Vincent DiProspero says
How do i set the cooking time?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Vincent, I would refer to the manual of your pressure cooker to see how to use it. Mine has a plus and minus sign that allows me to adjust the time.
Michi says
I needed to find a simple shredded chicken recipe. This is perfect. Flavorful and really adaptable. Used 2 frozen chicken thighs and added 5 more minutes once they separated. I made my own seasoning salt and all is well on my side. Thank you so much for your recipe. I’ve also used it with chicken breast as well.
The Recipe Rebel says
Thanks Michi!
Christina says
Hi, Ashley, How much more additional time for bone in chicken thighs?
Dawn says
Hi Ashley – what would the cooking time be for just 2 chicken breasts do you think? And would you still use 1 cup of broth? Thank you!
Hannah says
Hi! Not Ashley, but as a regular pressure cooker user, do the same time and liquid for a smaller amount. Most pressure cookers need a minimum amount of liquid to work, usually about 250ml, or one cup.
Ann says
Very easy and convenient. I use shredded chicken all the time, I will be doing this from now on. Just an FYI, higher elevation, above 6000ft has to add more cooking time. I had to add about 3 minutes, but still very simple. Thank you.
The Recipe Rebel says
Great to hear, thank you Ann!
Brandi says
Had some chicken breast I needed to use up and this worked out perfectly. Didn’t even notice till half way through cooking my chicken breast were thinly sliced.
The Recipe Rebel says
Great to hear! Thank you Brandi!